ABC and NBC split the Thanksgiving week morning show ratings race.
NBC’s Today, the top-ranked morning show for the week among adults 25-54, posted its largest margin of victory over GMA in the demo since the week of April 15, and its largest lead over CBS in the demo since the week of May 13.
GMA, the most-watched morning show for the week, is also the No. 1 morning newscast in total viewers at this point of the season for the 8th year in a row. In fact, GMA is nearly tripling its total viewer advantage over Today versus last season (+197% – 107,000 vs. 36,000) to its largest in 3 years – since the 2016-17 season.
Compared with the same calendar week in 2018 (which did not include the Thanksgiving holiday), GMA was -7% in total viewers and -14% among adults 25-54. Today was -8% in total viewers and -9% among adults 25-54. CBS This Morning experienced the most significant year-over-year drop, -15% in total viewers and -14% in the A25-54 demo from last year.
It’s worth noting that ABC’s, CBS’ and NBC’s weekly averages are based on just 2 days (Mon and Fri).
The averages for the week of Nov. 25, 2019:
| Network | ABC | NBC | CBS |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,920,000 | 3,897,000 | 2,813,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,092,000 | 1,278,000 | 750,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD, 2018-2019 Current Week (w/o 11/25/19), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 11/26/18). Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23 – 12/1/19) and 2018 -2019 Season (9/24 – 12/2/18). Averages based on regular telecasts.